How to design the optimum, most effective organization.

Most organizations were designed by continuous evolution rather than by conscious intent.  When was the last time your senior management team looked at your organization chart and asked the question, ‘is this the most effective way to organize’?  I rather suspect that the answer is never

In this first post on organization I am asking the question… did the organization evolve over time or was it designed?  If your organization is more than two years old, statistically, the probability is that it is a product of evolution rather than conscious design.

There is nothing wrong with evolution.  Humans are a result of evolution, and we’ve been pretty successful.  On the other hand, tyrannosaurus rex was also a product of evolution, and isn’t around anymore.  We survive because we were more adaptable.

Action
In this first look, we ask you to examine your organization and critically determine whether you believe it was designed or evolved, and whether that evolution was optimal (humans) or not (T-Rex).